Oxygen Removal from Water / Deoxygenation

Technical Briefs

In central district heating systems heated water from power plants is distributed to residential and industrial areas by insulated piping networks. Large storage tanks are typically used to safely store heat for use during periods of peak load demand. To prevent internal corrosion and to increase the lifetime of piping and storage tanks, inlet water should be deoxygenated with Liqui-Cel® Membrane Contactors.

This technical brief describes how Liqui-Cel Membrane Contactors were evalulated and used to improve the flow rates of wells operated by United Water of New York (UWNY) by removing dissolved gasses. The reduced operating costs and lower capital requirements gave Liqui-Cel Contactors the edge over competing technologies.

Liqui-Cel® Membrane Contactors are used around the world for deoxygenation of water and other liquids. Oxygen (O2) negatively impacts many processes. It is corrosive, it can impact product shelf life and it can cause low product yields. Liqui-Cel® Contactors offer easy-to-operate, modular solutions for degassing and oxygen (O2) removal from water without chemicals and without large vacuum towers or deaerators. Liqui-Cel® Contactors also offer the benefit of simultaneous oxygen and carbon dioxide removal from water as well as N2 control with one step.

Boiler Feed Water Deaerators and Corrosion Control

In the power and industrial areas, dealing with corrosion is a leading cause of operating and maintenance costs. Piping, boilers and equipment are susceptible to corrosion if deaeration is not present or strictly controlled to ensure the magnetite layer is maintained (OT – Oxygenate Treatment).
Many plants are now using Liqui-Cel® Contactors for the deoxygenation of their boiler make-up and feed water. Boiler feedwater deaeration extends boiler and piping life by preventing corrosion of critical parts. Feed water to Heat Storage & Recovery Generators (HRSG) is another area where deoxygenation of the feed water at start-up can prevent costly maintenance and reduce the risk of failure due to corrosion.
Plants that are venting off large volumes of steam to remove dissolved O2 can also remove oxygen using Liqui-Cel Contactors prior to the deaerator. Lowering the deaerator vent rate reduces fuel consumption. This can be a significant cost savings for plants generating steam.

Improving Yields in Semiconductor Applications

In the semiconductor and flat panel/TFT industries, high levels of oxygen can cause lower wafer and flat panel yields. Liqui-Cel® Contactors are the degassing standard in the microelectronics sector where the dissolved oxygen specification is critical. Our contactors can produce <1ppb of dissolved oxygen and carry a performance warranty. We have thousands of systems operating around the world today.

Beverage and Food Processing Applications

Liqui-Cel® Membrane Contactors are used around the world for the deoxygenation of water, beer and other liquids in the food and beverage industry. Oxygen can negatively impact the shelf life, product quality, product consistency and taste. Liqui-Cel® Contactors offer a small, modular, and cost effective means to control the dissolved gasses in the beverage. Beer, wine and juice processing are common applications for our membrane degassers.

UltraPure Water: Systems for Microelectronics
This article, discusses the use of Liqui-Cel® Membrane Contactors as the degassing and oxygen removal technology used in new semiconductor plants instead of older technologies such as vacuum towers.